The Poetry of Louisa May Alcott

by Louisa May Alcott

This unique anthology collects more than 100 poems by Louisa May Alcott, drawn from works published over the course of her career. One of the only published collections of her poetry, it provides invaluable insights into a lesser known part of Louisa May Alcott's literary life.
ABOUT THE SERIES: Arcturus Great Poets Library brings together moving and inspiring verse from some of the greatest poets in history, presented with beautiful new cover designs with graphic motifs.

Genres: Poetry, Classics

208 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2020

About the author

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel Little Women (1868) and its sequels Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May Alcott and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many well-known intellectuals of the day, including Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A.M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge.
Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still popular today among both children and adults. It has been adapted for stage plays, films, and television many times.
Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She also spent her life active in reform movements such as temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke in Boston on March 6, 1888, just two days after her father's death.

Reviews

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh...

[Court Schueller · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

The author of my favorite book of all time! I didn’t even know until recently that LMA wrote poetry, but I’m so glad to have read it now! Perfect for spring/summertime as most of them were nature or animal based. Some I liked more than others, but a few even included mentions of the sisters from Little Women. Glad to get more lore for them in my mind :)

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

greta gerwig u ain’t slick

[Jara]

Well that was cute.
(Also what a queen)

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super sweet collection of poetry by my favorite author!!!

[József-Sándor Török · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Poetry of Louisa May Alcott is an anthology of more than 100 poems from the renowned author many of us celebrate for Little Women , which I have reviewed in the past. Louisa May Alcott is obviously one of my favourite classic authors and I love her work; however, I didn’t fall in love with this collection of poems she published over the course of her life. While there are still quite a few pieces I enjoyed reading and I cherish, I have to admit that Alcott was a better novelist than she was a poet.

Writing poetry is one of my favourite things to do, but I have to confess reading poetry wasn’t a thing I did regularly before. However, 2022 is the year of changes – and on a macro scale not for the good -, which implies reading more poetry and doing some sort of “research” for upcoming projects. I’ve been meaning to read Louisa May Alcott’s poetry as I adored her other works and I finally managed to do so; however, it didn’t turn out as I expected. The first couple of poems are fabulous – they have a very homely feeling and are ideal for an autumn night, but other than that the whole anthology was quite repetitive. Most poems imply natural elements and lots of scenery, while others tend to focus on supernatural creatures, and I didn’t necessarily fancy the latter ones, despite having an educational dimension – morals and punishment for not following the said morals. Many other pieces are stories ranging over a multitude of pages, which I didn’t enjoy reading as they seemed to be the same thing with slight differences – mainly regarding characters or life circumstances. Regardless, there are quite a few poems I loved, mainly found in the first 50 pages as the rest of the book tends to be a pile of reused metaphors and similar words.

Obviously, it is important to acknowledge that the anthology comprises poems written in different time periods across her career, which is precisely why the themes are the same, but approached from a different perspective. Regardless of the repetitiveness, one must admit that her poetry has a fine rhythm and tempo (which is mainly modified through punctuation), which is rather rare with more modern poetry. I found Alcott’s poems on her feelings towards nature and seasons quite comforting and cozy, ideal for a quite evening, which is why I rated the anthology with three stars.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Andrea González De la Cerda · Rating 5 out of 5]

righter shone the golden shadows;
On the cool wind softly came
The low, sweet tones of happy flowers,
Singing little Violet's name.
'Mong the green trees was it whispered,
And the bright waves bore it on
To the lonely forest flowers,
Where the glad news had not gone.

Thus the Frost-King lost his kingdom,
And his power to harm and blight.
Violet conquered, and his cold heart
Warmed with music, love, and light;
And his fair home, once so dreary,
Gay with lovely Elves and flowers,
Brought a joy that never faded
Through the long bright summer hours.

Thus, by Violet's magic power,
All dark shadows passed away,
And o'er the home of happy flowers
The golden light for ever lay.
Thus the Fairy mission ended,
And all Flower-Land was taught
The 'Power of Love,' by gentle deeds
That little Violet wrought.



The tale is told, the song is sung,
And the Fairy feast is done.

Read more at http://www.poetry-archive.com/a/fairy...

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I absolutely love Louisa May Alcott's work, but I didn't fall in love with this one as much as her novels. Many of the poems are stories, which I normally wouldn't mind but some of them just didn't seem to flow well to me and I just didn't enjoy reading them much. Typical of Alcott, they focus on morals and the punishments of not following the morals. Overall, I think that idea translates better to a novel format. However, some of these I became enamored with. One that I particularly loved was one that she wrote for her sister, Anna. My twin sister is named Anna and to just see that beautiful poem addressed to a sister named Anna made me extremly emotional in a way I can't express. I also loved it when poems from 'Little Women' and some of her other works were included.
Overall, there were a couple that I absolutely loved, but many of them were just mediocre.

[Lisa Blondell · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 🌟 Även om jag tyckte att vissa av de fabelliknande dikterna var intressanta så var det alldeles för få som ens fångade mitt intresse för att den här samlingen ska ha varit värd tiden. Beundrar dock Alcotts tro och hur den verkligen är en röd tråd. Bästa dikten är i min mening ”An advertisement” och det visar kanske också att jag tyckte om när anonyma människor fick ta plats och inte bara naturen eller familjemedlemmar.

Andra dikter som jag tycker är värda att läsa: cold winds may blow, despondency, softly doth the sun descend, oh the beautiful old story och I shine says the sun.

[Jordan Darling · Rating 1 out of 5]

Real rating: 1.5/5 ⭐️

I got very bored while reading this collection. I felt that after reading a few you were reading the same thing with just slight differences. A lot of the topics were the same, such as: holidays, sea, fairies, birds. Just the same metaphors and language were reused alongside the repetition of similar words throughout all of the poetry. I just felt like I was reading the same poem over and over.

I also found it hard to concentrate on some poems as there were no separate stanzas. Some poems ranged over a multitude of pages and the lack of separate stanzas and gaveling 5 pages of one block of poem was just too big a chunk for a reader. When they’re were stanzas they were placed awkwardly in the poem.

I will say, I thought that she had a nice rhythm in her poems. She also used her punctuation and certain words to affect the tempo that you read at. I also liked that the sizes of the poems varied.

It is also important to acknowledge the difference in time periods from which the poems were written. The difference made it hard to relate to some poems due to a difference in language used and life experiences which took the relatability out of the poems. The time period also affected what she wrote and some of her topics or things she found important in her life which are vastly different compared to my generation.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louisa May Alcott was a better novelist and short story writer, than she was a poet. However I did find her poems cozy. Her feelings show for her family, nature, seasons and other things in her personal life. It is a cute collection for those who just want a comforting , loving verse for a lost lonely night.

[Stephanie Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was published after her death so most were written for family or have the feel of having been written as a personal outlet. They are not to the same standard as her fictional works but I enjoyed reading them.

[Marissa | storiesinthemeadow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely poems about family, fairies, nature, and magic.

Elaina enjoyed picking these up and reading some too ☺️

[Kendall McClain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love her

[Jacob Cronin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of poetry, but it's another book done for the year, and it was entertaining in bursts.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

These poems range from profound to silly. I wish they had been organized differently, maybe by topic. I did enjoy the references to some of her well-known characters.

[Mahala · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book to any Little Women fans or anyone who values family highly.

[Elena Kellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute and very sweet. I love all the nature imagery :)

[Felicia Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these poems!

[Olivia Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a few poems I loved, but most of the others were a bit repetitive.

[Chloe Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her writing is beautiful! 🦋🌿💐🪺🪴

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightful, and a fair few are deep and contemplative, but there isn’t much variation overall so it gets a bit old after a while.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehh… This wasn’t for me.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alcott's poetry is often not what her as fiction is, but much of her poetry is enjoyable: heartfelt and poignant, mingled with her characteristic sense of humor. Many of her poems are personal in nature, so familiarity with her biography may enhance meaning and enjoyment for some readers. This collection includes a significant number of poems that I had never seen before, along with several long-loved favorites. I was somewhat puzzled by the editor's choice to classify the selections as "Earliest Efforts" and "Poems," as if her early poetry is not actually. I also wished that their had been more definition to the organization, with some contextualization or chronology of the poems. There is a list of publication dates for each of the selections at the end of the book, but no information about when Alcott actually authored the poems. The introduction also seemed rather too short to give an uninitiated reader a true appreciation and context for the poems to follow.

[Emilia Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Silent and sad
When all are glad
And the earth is dressed in flowers.”

[Bobbie N · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUMMARY: A sampling of Alcott's poetry compiled by the staff of Orchard House, written from the time she was eight years old until just before her death. COMMENTS: One gets a good sense of the woman, her thoughts, feelings, and humor, her relationships, and her life's journey, in reading these poems.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

She wasn't a bad poet!

[rinabeana · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I love LMA, I don't think she was a fantastic poet. I enjoyed reading some of her pieces, but many of them seemed strained to fit into common rhyme schemes.

[☽ Nanna Brochdorff ✧ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had its moments, but in actuality when you read more than two poems at a time it became monotonous and annoying.